Editorial introduction: Decision making, reasoning, context, and perspective

Editorial for the 2023 philosophy thematic edition: Treating the whole person: Philosophical health

“…As recent special editions of this journal make very clear, the idea that we need to focus on the ‘whole person’, if we are to understand and better promote human health, has very much regained currency in contemporary healthcare debates 1–8 . This ‘whole‐person’ approach, dating back to the ancients, 9 requires not only understanding a person's biology, but also seeing that person as a social being whose needs, well‐being and flourishing are essentially relational in nature.…”

“…As recent special editions of this journal make very clear, the idea that we need to focus on the 'whole person', if we are to understand and better promote human health, has very much regained currency in contemporary healthcare debates. [1][2][3][4][5][6][7][8] This 'whole-person' approach, dating back to the ancients, 9 requires not only understanding a person's biology, but also seeing that person as a social being whose needs, well-being and flourishing are essentially relational in nature. To live a human life is to be engaged with one's 'environment' in the broadest sense of this term, concerning one's interactions with other people, animals, the natural objects and the human constructions that constitute one's world.…”

“…The first of these is an important contribution from David Chambers 23 to the on-going debate about shared decision-making. 3,4 Based on a thorough conceptual analysis of what we mean by 'sharing' and 'a decision', Chambers develops an operational definition of shared decision-making for use in a wide range of healthcare contexts. This is followed by discussions of situations in which clinical and patient perspectives conflict.…”

Philosophy and the clinic: Stigma, respect and shame

“…Recent editions have focussed on the ongoing discussions concerning shared decision making, person‐centred care, patient expertise and value‐based practice, 8 , 9 with authors building on earlier debates regarding the integration of health and social care 10 to advance new approaches to the clinical encounter and the developing interactions between technical and humanistic features of care. 11 …”

“…'great debate' about clinical reasoning and decision making, 4 advancing our understanding of the professional-patient interaction and our changing conceptions regarding objectivity, diagnosis, bias, judgement and power. [5][6][7] Recent editions have focussed on the ongoing discussions concerning shared decision making, person-centred care, patient expertise and value-based practice, 8,9 with authors building on earlier debates regarding the integration of health and social care 10 to advance new approaches to the clinical encounter and the developing interactions between technical and humanistic features of care. 11 These important themes are developed further in this edition, which includes a special section on stigma, shame and respect.…”